The 21st European Indoor Archery Championships heads to Plovdiv (Bulgaria) on 17-21 February, with 318 athletes entered in a significantly expanded event compared to last year’s edition in Türkiye.
The Bulgarian city previously hosted the 2022 European Grand Prix, among other international archery events.
The championships are notable for featuring many of the world’s leading barebow archers, with Great Britain, Serbia and Romania among the nations sending teams dominated by barebow specialists.
Italy’s Simone Barbieri, last year’s silver medallist and now World Games Champion, is likely the favourite in barebow men, with Britain’s Oliver Hicks absent from the field.
In barebow women, Italian legend Cinzia Noziglia, who won the title in 2022, lost gold in 2024 to San Marino’s Kristina Maria Pruccoli. Both athletes then finished behind Giulia Mantilli in 2025. Noziglia and Pruccoli will both return to action at the Kolodrum Arena next week.
There is also a small but high-quality compound field at the competition, including Nicolas Girard, Domagoj Buden, Mario Vavro, Martin Damsbo, Jean-Philippe Boulch, Jozef Bosansky, Amanda Mlinaric and Elisa Roner.
